


Strange new ways

by towardsmorning



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Character of Color, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-16
Updated: 2011-02-16
Packaged: 2017-10-15 17:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/162951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towardsmorning/pseuds/towardsmorning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>M'gann does not understand Artemis, or Earth, but she is willing to learn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange new ways

**Author's Note:**

> So I was all, 'needs girl fluff!', and then it became wholesome/flirty meta? I don't know. It was written early in the morning, my mind goes strange places!

M'gann does not understand Artemis.

Sometimes she feels she won't ever understand Earth fully, all its crevices and nuances, but she had felt she was starting to forge a foothold on the small sliver of it she currently called 'home'. Her behaviour, barring one or two small mishaps, had seemed acceptable to her team-mates- and in one case, she noted with the kind of exasperated affection that was slowly becoming more of the former than the latter, more than acceptable.

Artemis... does not fit what she had come to expect of Earth and its inhabitants.

She had known this to be true the moment she heard Artemis' thoughts about Superboy, ringing happily and clearly across their link. She didn't need Artemis' confirmation, really, to know it had been deliberate, not like Kid Flash's absent minded attitude, forever forgetting that yes, _everyone_ could hear him. There were so many things about that which seemed odd to M'gann- why say something as though the person was not there, rather than simply say to them directly? Why say it to everybody else as well, and embarrass them? Though her initial indignation on Superboy's (and, if she is being honest, her initial jealousy, however unwarranted) has faded, the confusion remains.

And it does not help that Artemis brings these things up... a _lot_. M'gann is pleased to have another girl to talk to on base, she is, but this is not the kind of thing her studies of Earth prepared her for. She feels almost deviant when she and Artemis discuss them so candidly, comparing boys and girls as though they were the butterflies M'gann saw in an Earth museum, pinned under glass to better have their colours examined. Doubly so when it's about Superboy. Triply so when she remembers he's on base too, and M'gann really hopes his hearing isn't _too_ good. This type of thing had not seemed acceptable in M'gann's studies, but here was Artemis, splayed across her bed and talking away as though nothing was wrong with it at all.

When she finally finds an opening to bring her reservations up to Artemis, the other girl just laughs merrily and shrugs at her.

"So wait, how do you do it on Mars?"

M'gann knows enough about Earth by now to squeak at the implications that holds and fling a pillow at the other girl.

"Not like- oh yeah, that's what _she_ said. No, I mean, how do you let someone know you're," and here Artemis pauses to waggle her eyebrows, " _interested?"_

The question pulls M'gann up short, and she thinks about it for a second, hugging her knees to her chest as she mulls it over. "I don't think I could," she says slowly, "not like you do on Earth. You would need to be communicating telepathically. We do not tend to express such things in words. They seem so blunt by comparison. Erm, no offence, English is a lovely language!" M'gann adds hastily (and- not entirely truthfully, given how much she misses Mars' methods of communication).

Artemis has propped her chin on her hand, and with surprise M'gann sees she looks- unhappy, or bitter, almost. "Man, no wonder people love you. You're like every rom-com ever made rolled into one."

"What?"

"You're so- look at you!" Artemis sits up abruptly, waving a hand impatiently. "You bake cookies, and you have tender brain-meldy bond type... things instead of flirting, you have a _catch phrase_ and you smile _all the time_. People jump all over that stuff. And then there's us lowly Earthling girls, and we're much too crude." Artemis pulls a face and imitates a voice M'gann doesn't recognise, but assumes is meant to be somebody in particular. "Oh, Artemis, can't you _behave_ for once?"

M'gann giggles nervously. "Well. I usually burn the cookies, so maybe... I should stop that anyway?" Artemis looks unconvinced, so she changes tack. "Besides, I don't think I can see you acting like that. You fit who you are already too much," and M'gann hadn't _meant_ to pry, but Artemis is so bold that it is impossible to not pick up at least something about herself, no matter what mental shields M'gann has been taking pains to keep erected.

It's hard to express the complex sensation of a mind comfortable in its own shape, but Artemis looks somewhat appeased, so M'gann supposes that will do for an explanation. She means it. Artemis is confusing, but not in a bad way. It is certainly never boring to be around someone she can't anticipate.

"So what you're saying is, you like me like this? All flirty and crap?" Artemis collapses back down onto the mattress, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"Well, yes. It's- I mean, it makes you interesting. I have never met anyone like you before, on Mars _or_ on Earth."

Artemis smiles slowly as she speaks, eyes lighting up and grin slowly pooling across her face. M'gann feels her temples pulse at the sight- a silly nervous reaction, though thankfully not a visible one to humans.

"Oh, Megan," and underneath the sudden flirtatious tone that has M'gann blinking as though she has stepped into a sudden dust cloud, she notes that there is a note of genuine flattery there, warmth that makes her smile back nervously.

"All you had to do was _ask._ "

M'gann thinks of Earth, and its strange ways. She thinks of the confusion of trying to steady herself without anybody to anchor her, and how quiet it is on this planet, with so little noise she can allow into her head. She looks across at Artemis, at her splayed across her bed, utterly content in the guise she has crafted to deal with that world.

"Well," M'gann replies with a bright smile after a moment's pause, hovering over Artemis so the girl can see it from where she's still laid out on the bed, as deceptively careless as she always seems, "I suppose you'll just have to show me how to do so."

"Guess there's some lessons Canary isn't so good for-" M'gann starts to choke in surprise and ends in a laugh, putting a finger to Artemis' lips to silence her. They've done that part, she thinks, and Artemis seems to get the message because she does indeed go quiet, her eyes widening just a fraction.

"Hello, Artemis? Less talking, more showing, please?"

Artemis just yanks her down by her cape in response, the glint in her eye as sharp and sweet as diamonds. As it turns out, kissing is a strange Earth ritual she understands very, very quickly, and by the way Artemis reacts, M'gann is a quick study.


End file.
